Finn beams. “That’s right… thisgood boyof yours, Mr. Sinclair, could see from the picture that you had a guard there,andhe could see through the window. This kid you kept locked away is more useful than you think…”
I narrow my eyes. “What?”
Armen lets out a low laugh. “Cleverbastard…”
I pause the video and look at him.
Armen gestures at the frozen image of Kit. “Kitknew… If Finn showed him a picture clear enough that Kit could see through the window, it must have been daytime. Kit would have seen that the warehouse was empty. And yeah, we always have a guard patrolling the docks, so wherever Finn got that picture from, it must have snapped him.”
A flicker of pride surges through me, unexpected and sharp. Even through all of this, Kit is still being loyal. He doesn’t owe me anything, but he ensured nothing important would be lost.
I laugh softly and shake my head, looking at Mitch and James. “Has your brother always been this dumb?”
They both look away, embarrassed.
I press play again. Finn keeps bragging, clearly having taken Kit’s word for it without checking the photo closely himself. “I think this good boy deserves an award, huh?”
My frown deepens, heart rate picking up.
Finn grins wider. “How about a nice coolscar, huh?”
My eyes go wide. “What…”
Kit shakes his head frantically. “What?No… Finn…pleasedon’t…”
I feel like I’m watching in slow motion as Finn pulls a blade out, winks at the camera, then stands to the side of Kit, giving us a clear view.
Kit’s eyes are wide with panic. He’s crying now, shouting, “No! Don’t! Jesus Christ,please!”
Ray inhales sharply beside me.
Finn says, “Smile for the camera,” then yanks Kit’s head still and slices the blade into his cheek.
Kit screams instantly… a raw, agonised sound that rips through the speakers.
Finn laughs and drags the blade, splitting the skin across Kit’s cheek, over the bridge of his nose, missing the eye by a fraction, then pushing it back into the skin, cutting through his brow and up his forehead. Toward the end, Kit’s screams and writhing turn into tired, broken whimpers. Blood is dripping down his face, over his eye, into his mouth, and over his clothes. He looks like he might pass out from the pain.
I’m breathing heavy and ragged, each inhale scraping like broken glass in my throat. My hands are shaking violently; the kind of tremor I can’t stop no matter how hard I clench my fists. I feel like a barely contained wolf… feral, cornered, ready to tear the entire world apart with my teeth. The image of that blade slicing across Kit’s face is seared behind my eyelids. The way his scream cut off into those broken, exhausted whimpers. The blood. The terror in his eyes.I can’t fucking breathe.
Finn turns back to the camera, still grinning. “We’ll talk tomorrow.”
The video turns off. The silence in the room is so thick you could cut it with a knife.
Armen is pulling at his hair. Ray has both hands over his mouth. Sam and Luke are staring at the dark screen like their brains are buffering.
I grab the tablet and immediately mute the video because I can’t bear to listen to those screams again. I turn the screen to face Mitch and James.
“Lookat what yourvilebrother has become,” I say, voice gritted through my teeth.
Neither of them can speak. The way my voice sounds leaves no room for argument. They watch the video in silence, shock and embarrassment flickering across their features as they see their little brother in a new, horrifying light.
I snap, “Do you know where this is?”
James shakes his head, wincing.
Mitch says quietly, “No… it’s just metal walls, rusted… it could beanywhere.”
I growl and turn to the four guys who patted them down. “Take them to the basement. Don’t kill them.”
